Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-01-15

Special Correspondence OF lne REcoED-CNioN !
MEXICO, January IA, 1887.
In the architecture and furnishing of
Mexican houses there is no such variety as
in most other countries-one casa OF the
better class being almost an exact counter
part of thousands of others. Since there
is scarcely any middle class between pa
tricians and paryenus, the contrast between
the abodes of the poor and those OF upper
tendon IS great indeed The former are
the merest .jGodls pronounced h0ck-dAs),
novels in which respectable jackal would
disdain to liye-in the lowlands made of
wild-cane stalks, matched with dried grass
or Spanish dagger leaves, Or adobe huts
in the higher attitudes, where the nights
are chilly. In fact the universal building
material Of all classes except the Indians OF
the terra c1Iiente, IS adobe-but that in the
construction of patrician homes is as differ
ent from the sun-dried mud OF the parvenus,
as the greaser" differs from the arlsto
cratic Mexican.
No other kind of houses would answer as
well in this climate as those that prevail
among the upper classes, for the walls OF
solid clay, from three to eight feet thick,
keep out heat as well as cold and preserve
an even temperature within, despite blazing
moons, chilly nights, and the dampnesS OF
the long rainy season The flats roofs are
also of adobe, laid thick above ponderous
beams, with cutters around the edge and
queer little water-spouts projecting, often
in the form Of gargoyles.
THE OTTER WALLS
Are generally tinted pale blue, yellow,
pink or sray-Yith dado decorations OF
darker color, and often with elaborate
stucco adornments over doors and win
dows. The adobe foundation is thickly
pIastered with fine cement which resem-
bles polished marble, and in time renders
them almost indestructibie, coat after coat
being added as the years go by. Occasion
ally, as in Monterey and other northern
cities, one sees what we call calico
houses ii. e.. those painted all over
outside in regular patterns, precisely
like printed calico; while in the
south-notably in Puebla, where tiles are
marufactured-many cdSaS are perfect
mosaic of Dutch and China plaques, more
Moorish than anything in Morocco.
Outside the larger cities few houses are
more than one story in hight, the vast ma
jority OF homes having neither cellar nor
" up stairs The cGSaS OF well-to do Mex
leans are of vast extent as compared to the
average house in the United States, the
low walls being built close to the street
and all around the garden. leaving in the
center an unroofed court, or patio, with
which everyone of the numberlesS rooms
communicates. In those rare cases where
the house is of two, or even three stories,
the apal tments of each floor open upon a
corridor, which surrounds this inner court
the pillared corridor being gay with
awnings, hammocks and trailing vines,
and the court beautiful with fountains,
fruits and flowers.
The idea of strict seclusion. for respectable
females transmitted, no doubt. through
the Moorish blood of the conqtiiStadoTeS-
still so strong in Mexico that the higher
the caste the more carefully is all trace Of
family life secluded from the public view,
and the more difficult it is for foreigners
to gain access to the interior. All the win
dows are securely barred, like those of
prisons, having stout wooden poles or per
pendicular rods of iron before them while
the one great door-leading into the court
and thence to the rooms of the casa-is
kept carefully locked and bolted, the cheer
less blank walls presented TO the street tell
ing no tales of family life within. The
traveller fresh from the United States, &C
customed to the pretty front gardens or
green lawns, open doors and accessible
homes of the North, is apt to rail against
these southern customs, which battle his
curiosity and defy his inquistlveness at
every turn. But. beyond doubt, these
WAYS are wiser for the MericanOes. The
free and easy customs which work well
enough among even-tempered people of
colder climates, would be ruinous for this
hot-blooded jealous and turbulent race.
MEXICAN WINDOWS
Are peculiar institutions. They reach al
most from floor to ceiling, are wide as
church doors, and-the walls being so
thick-afford ample room for placing chairs
within their slightly reoesses, wherein the
family are wont to congregate during the
cool of the day Comparatively few casas
luxuriate in wi3dowglass, for, as the duty
on that substance is little less than robbery,
the vast majority dispense with Il altogeth-
err The windows have heavy inside shut
ters-not furnished with movable Stats like
those to which Northeners are accustomed
but of solid wood, opening i'll the middle,
both ways, like the door of barn. As
shades are not possible, owing to their
peculiar construction, the only means by
when the household machinery is not on
exhibition, is to close the lower half of the
shutters the inquisitive outsiders, with
curiosity sharpened by the evident attempt
to conceal something, frequently climb up
and gaze perSistently over the top Mexi-
cans seem TO entertain the idea that win
dows were made to look out OF, as well as
to look in at, and it is a matter of daily
occurrence for men, women and children
of the gdlain order including peddlers and
professional beggars, to congregate outside
the bars and stand calmly staring in at us
by the hour.
The first sight of these barred windows
strikes the stranger in Mexico rather I'M
pleasantly. and ne is apt to fancy himself
in prison behind them, with his iron bed
stead and brick floor tor suitable accesso-
ries. In time, however he realizes not only
the convenience but the necessity of them,
and by and by he feels an uneasy sense OF
insecurity if by some rare chance he finds
himself not thus protected. The greater
portion of Mexico is a land of perpetual
summer, where windows must be open both
night and day, and these gratings cannot
be picked" like locks. or noiseleSsly
cut like panes of glass. But though one
may sleep here in perfect security without
closing a shutter, it is well to move ones
effects from TOO close proximity to the win
doWs, for the lCdroHes have a habit of
throwing in ropes with hooks attached and
dextrously drawing out even your gar
ments, from which practice perhaps origi-
mated the Texan slang word
HOOKING
For stealing. It is only justice to add that
there is far less thieving going on in Meg
leo, in proportion to population, than in
our own country, for the influence Of
Roman Catholicism is paramount, espe-
cially among the poorest classes. venture
to assert that with all your spring bolts and
careful precautions to bring in even the
door-mats at nightfall, there is more steal
ing done in any northern city in single
day than in all Mexico in a years time.
During the summer season. these wide,
cool windows, with their deep lodges and
protecting bars, are as pleasant as pictur-
esque, and afford most delightful hooks
from which to safely observe the life of the
streets but when long, chilly rains come
on land sometimes they have some little